


Life, Again

by Kakushigo



Series: Cascade [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Don't piss off Iruka, Gen, Iruka fixes things!, Iruka is ninja dad, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix It, and a few before, fixing chapter 700
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-18
Updated: 2018-07-18
Packaged: 2018-10-20 11:00:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10661190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kakushigo/pseuds/Kakushigo
Summary: After he performs a possibly deadly jutsu at the end of the world to hopefully save Naruto, he wakes back up in his sixteen year old body.  He's about to be put in charge of a group of six year old shinobi wannabes.  This time though, he's gonna make sure they all survive.





	1. Awaken to the Past

**Author's Note:**

> When I started writing Umino Unraveled, I couldn't decide which 'path' I wanted the fic to take. So instead of picking one, I chose both and ran with it. This is the version where he wakes up in his younger body. Enjoy!

But it appeared being an academic had paid off.  He felt better even without opening his eyes; all the fatigue and exhaustion from living on the edge seemed to be gone, though there was a pulsing ache in his bones.  It was the best he’d felt in a long time.  When he finally managed to open his eyes, he was greeted by the familiar sight of his old bedroom ceiling.  He pushed himself up out of bed, checking his calendar and being personally glad he had been so careful to mark off days.  His aim didn’t seem to be too bad, he’d arrived only a day or two earlier than he intended.

Team 7 and indeed all of the Rookie 9 were starting the Academy soon.  He tied his hiate-ate in its customary place on his forehead and checked his gear over.  Everything he’d worked into his normal techniques, perhaps a few less shuriken than normal and no senbon, but he’d only picked those up when they’d been the only thing left. Senbon training wasn’t offered at the Academy, perhaps he could change that.  Anything to give them an edge.

No matter, he hadn’t even officially been designated sensei to this year’s students.  He reported to the Hokage’s office, expecting to be put on mission duty again.  As good as his memory, it wasn’t perfect when it was that far back.  He knew the first prank Naruto pulled, but he couldn’t remember what he’d been before he’d been “Iruka-sensei” to his class.

Thankfully, he was just on desk duty.  There was nothing hard about desk duty, accepting mission reports and handing out more.  It was comforting to do this job again, he hadn’t done it since Tsunade had died.  Perhaps he seemed a bit too cheerful, but Iruka didn't let it bother him.  Nothing separated him from whom he had been yesterday to these people.   Tomorrow would be much the same.  

It was weird to consider the fact he wouldn’t have to run tonight, to forage for his food.  He’d missed his small house, situated near Konoha’s heart.  He entered by the roof and made dinner for himself.  The sky was clear, everyone was alive.  And he needed to set traps.  It took him a second to place why that thought was wrong- he was in Konoha, he was relatively safe.  He wasn’t an ANBU or jounin, he didn’t need traps everywhere.  The worst infiltrator he was going to get was the occasional Academy student.  There was paranoia, then there was over the top.  He wasn’t running from the bijuu or Kaguya, he wasn’t living on the edge of society.  He took a deep breath and centered himself, stopping his hands from shaking.

But this was better than dead.  No one was dead yet.  So he just had to get through this.

He didn’t sleep well that night.  He even had a kunai under his pillow.  It wasn’t fun, but he’d learned how to do it a long time ago, when you could wake up at any time with an enemy nin in his face.  When he manages to fall asleep, he wakes up again, silently screaming and various weapons in hand.  It’s not even something real, just the settling noises of the house.  He should know these noises, but it’s been too long.  This doesn’t bode well for blending in.  

Instead of trying to sleep, he heads out to the training fields.  Specifically, the Forest of Death.  Since Konoha’s destruction, the forest had spilled out and flourished.  It was oddly enough one of the few places that felt familiar.  He relaxed in its deadly embrace, darting around creeping crawlies easily.  

When it was time, he reported to the Hokage Tower as needed.  He was a little less tense than yesterday, but he’d been training and he didn’t bother to hide it.  Sarutobi gave him a concerned look, but Iruka merely shrugged.  At this age, he’d still had nightmares about his first kill and his parent’s death, it was perfectly normal to be unable to sleep.  He went about of his work until he was interrupted by one of the other chunin.

“Iruka-san,” one of the Hokage’s personal assistants called out, “the Hokage would like to see you.”

Iruka nodded, having a fair idea what this was about.  “Does he mind if I finish this report up?  I have to translate again.”  Every single mission scroll was turned in in standard code, then given its own unique code based on how high level it was.  ANBU scrolls were read by the Hokage and sometimes council, then burned.  

“Of course not.”  The emissary disappeared and Iruka finished up his scroll steadily.  Trying to rush led to mistakes and he took his job seriously.  If he could avoid it, he wouldn’t be making mistakes today.

Finishing it up carefully and placing his seal on it, he excused himself to the Hokage’s rooms.  “Hokage-sama,”  Iruka said, bowing respectfully.  The last time he’d done this didn’t immediately come to mind.  After Tsunade’s death, the title of Hokage was sort of split between Shikamaru, Naruto, and Kakashi- neither of whom had demanded any formality.  Certainly since there was no more Hidden Leaf.  In the last Alliance of Shinobi, Shikamaru had technically held the position, but only because Naruto and Killer B had been...elsewhere occupied.

“Iruka-san.”  The Hokage returned once Iruka had righted himself.  “I have a request of you.”

His assignment at the Academy.  “What request does the Hokage have of me?”

Sarutobi pulled the pipe from his mouth, considering Iruka.  “How do you feel about teaching?  I know you’ve taken a few basic classes in it, but curiosity doesn’t necessitate interest in following through.”

Iruka actually thought it through.  He could, perhaps, do some good among the ranks.  With his skills, he could build himself up to jonin rank, take out enemies before they became a threat.  But honestly, it wasn’t what he wanted.  It also wasn’t were he felt he’d do the most good.  “I am interested.”  He decided after a pause.  “Though I can't say I considered the Academy, since my duties here often claim most of my time.”

“You can be put on reserve.  Give you more time for you class.”  The swiftness of the answer told Iruka that the Hokage had been considering this for some time.

“As you wish, Hokage-sama.” Iruka bowed again, trying not to feel like a bobble head.  “May I inquire why this has come up?  I was unaware in any shortage of teaching staff within the Academy.”

“There isn’t.  However, this particular class, I feel, shall need more guidance than most.”  There were lots of clan children in it, which would certainly require delicacy.  Not to mention Naruto.  Yes, this class certainly needed guidance.  "There’s a particular student you need to look out for.”

“Of course, Hokage.”  Why didn’t he remember this part of the conversation before?  It hadn’t quite been ‘Iruka- go teach’ in his memories, but there was always bias in memories, when it came to that.  “Who shall I be keeping an eye out for?”

“Naruto Uzumaki.”  Iruka looked up sharply at that.  He couldn’t say he remembered Naruto being brought up specifically before.  

But he bowed his head and played good, faithful, and stalwart Iruka.  “Of course, Hokage-sama.”

“And you’re okay with this?”

“I have no complaints.  May I leave to start preparing my lessons?”  

“Of course, you’re dismissed.”  A final bow from Iruka and he disappeared over the roofs of Konoha.  He still sort of remembered his lessons plans from his first teaching post, but he was going to make a few additions.  He’d been considered a tough teacher this time around, but this time he’d be the hardest.  If he’d trained them harder, they would’ve been more prepared.  Of course, if he told them it was training, they’d resist but the best he could do was play games.

They needed to know how to use the three primary justus, how to use kunai, senbon, dispel and recognize genjutsu.  It was a lot, but he had at least Naruto for seven years, he could do it.   

And he’d had to teach them how to use the three jutsus.  Especially the replacement jutsu, which didn't take a lot of chakra but it was super important.  With just that, genin could learn to take a lot of hits.  It wasn’t the best, but it was better than nothing.  And he would pull a page from Naruto’s book, the kid could hide from ANBU when he really wanted to.  

He didn’t tell Sarutobi immediately, but he was going to have the kids face killing intent before their graduation.  They would need to in order to survive.   If he could have the Rookie Nine without any special training, then think of what he could do with a little foresight.  

His goal?  He’d had 24 kids in his class, he could have eight teams of genin instead of three.  Ninjas, even genin, could protect themselves much better than civilians.  


	2. School is in Session!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First day of school!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I introduce a lot of OCs this chapter. Here's a link to all their names: [here!](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1khoVuEhBT33SnpdVIsMSCvCUIXh0dyF97HPkU20E53Q/edit?usp=sharing)
> 
> I will probably update with tidbits about them (but no promises). 
> 
> Do real kids act like this? Probably not. They'll have their chances to be terrors later though.

Iruka reported to the first day of classes bright and early.  There was no one there yet- the sun hadn't even risen over the horizon.  There were a few ninja out and about on the rooftops, but for the most part Iruka's journey was quiet and uneventful.  He settled into the room that would be his for the next twelve years and started writing on the board.  He finished that soon enough and settled down at the desk where he quietly wrote out lesson plans until the door opened. 

"Wow," a familiar voice said and it took a lot of training not to rip the senbon out of his hair and kill Mizuki where he stood, "you're up bright and early, Iruka- _sensei."_   There was a hard edge to the 'sensei' that Iruka had taken as teasing the first time around.  Now he knew the truth though and he wanted to kill Mizuki and make him suffer for everything he'd put Naruto and Iruka through.  

Instead, Iruka looked up and smiled.  "Mizuki!  I wasn't sure we'd get to teach together, how wonderful!"  He'd actually asked the Hokage to allow Mizuki to teach with him, begged for him to be allowed to pass the test that Iruka hadn't even been asked to take- all before Iruka had come back from the future, of course, but still.  He'd once considered this traitor a friend.  "I've just been going over some lesson plans.  Would you like to look them over?"

Mizuki nodded and entered the room, standing over Iruka's shoulder and looking down at his neat kanji.  As he got further and further down, Mizuki's smile dropped and his frown deepened.  "I don't know, Iruka, a lot of this stuff is pretty advanced.  We should just probably stick to the basics.  And what's this about tag and hide-and-seek?  We're teaching them to be ninjas, not children."  

First order of business then: getting rid of Mizuki.  For now, Iruka smiled and rubbed the back of his neck.  "We can't run them ragged, Mizuki.  I figure a little fun will help keep them focused for the more boring stuff."  With tag, Iruka planned on teaching them chakra control- how to run on walls, buildings, and trees- maybe even water- along with using chakra to increase their speed.  Hide-and-seek would be about cloaking their chakra and sensing others' chakra.  Every game could be made into a training exercise if you put a little thought into it.  

Mizuki nodded thoughtfully and patted Iruka's shoulder.  "Yeah, okay, I see where you're coming from."  Then he glanced at the board and laughed, "Chakra theory on the first day?"  

Iruka shrugged, "It's important.  Think I should dumb it down a little?"

"Iruka, buddy, they're six years old.  They don't give a whit about chakra theory- start them out with something fun like kunai throwing."

"It's a test," Iruka explained, "being a ninja isn't going to be fun all the time- we want to weed out the kids who aren't serious immediately so they have more time to enroll in a civilian aprenticeship and make something of themselves that way."

"Ah," Mizuki flicks the senbon in Iruka's hair and it's only all his training that keeps him from flinch, "guess you've got it all figured out, Iruka-sensei.  I'll just sit here and look pretty then."  That's pretty much the end of their conversation as the first kid appears.  Their spiky green hair draws a blank from Iruka's mind but he doesn't panic- of course he'd forget a kid or two.

Then the class finally starts trickling in, and there's a surprising number of children that Iruka doesn't recognize.  All in all, there's 36 kids- Iruka was planning for 24.  That's a pretty big disparity, he had no idea how many kids had dropped out before they'd gotten around to graduating.  Naruto is there, in his eye-searing orange get-up and Iruka gives an internal sigh of relief.  Choji, Shikimaru, and Kiba have all claimed the single desk furthest away from the teachers and look bored.  Sasuke  is smack dab in the middle with Shino.  Sakura is looking down at her hands- she's sitting with two other girls Iruka doesn't recognize at all.  Ino is holding court with Hinata and another girl,  Naruto is front and center, grinning brightly.  Iruka smiles back and Naruto somehow manages to look even happier.

The bell rings for class to start and Mizuki stands up and clears his throat.  "I'm Mizuki-sensei," he says to the whole class, then gestures to Iruka, "and this is Iruka-sensei." Iruka gives the class a smile and a wave.  "Every morning we'll start with 'Good morning, Mizuki and Iruka-sensei.' Try it now."

"Hello, Mizuki and Iruka-sensei."  The class repeats obediently.  Iruka spots four people who aren't involved at all, but the enthusiasm of some (namely, Naruto and Kiba) makes it unnoticeable to the untrained eye.

"Excellent!"  Mizuki claps his hands.  "Now onto roll call!  Say 'here' or something so we can mark you down as present. Aburame Shino!"

"Here."  Shino doesn't sound too thrilled about it, but Iruka can't says he blames him.

"Akimichi Choji!"  

Choji finishes chewing his chips before he raises his hand, "Here, sensei."  

Mizuki crosses him off the list.  "Now, Choji, we don't eat in the classroom unless we bring enough to share.  Understand?"  Choji looks glum as he puts his chip bag away and Iruka makes a mental note to talk to him later about it- they can make it a game.  He'll give Choji bonus points every time he manages to sneak a snack past Mizuki.   "Doi Eiji."  

One of the boys sitting with Sasuke raises his hand, "Here!"  It's one of the many Iruka has completely blanked on, but the kid seems to know Sasuke if the notes the two of them are passing mean anything.  Mizuki keeps reading from the list and Iruka sits back, putting names to faces.  When Mizuki was done and putting down the list though, Iruka had only counted 35 names and Naruto was looking awfully glum.  

"Mizuki?"  Iruka said quietly, "I think you skipped a name." It could be an honest mistake, but he doubted it was.

Mizuki looked over the list again, then shook his name.  "No, I didn't.  Here- look." He handed the list to Iruka and he saw every name had been crossed out- but one line was thicker then the others and considering where it was located, there was only one name it could be.  

"Oh, you accidentally crossed it out," Iruka told him with a charming smile.  "Uzumaki Naruto?"  

Naruto seemed to brighten at that.  "Present, sensei!" 

Iruka nodded at him and handed the paper back to Mizuki, noting how Mizuki's face seemed to sour.  It was hardly Iruka's fault that Mizuki considered innocent Naruto to be the Kyubbi.   Since roll call was over, Iruka stood from his desk and addressed the whole class.  "Now that you're all here and accounted for, can anyone tell me how chakra works?"   There are no volunteers, but the clan kids roll their eyes.  "Shikamaru, why don't you explain to the class?"

Shikamaru mutters something that while Iruka cannot hear, he knows it's 'troublesome' anyways, but indulges Iruka.  "It's an internal energy source that allows ninja to do jutsu.  It's the 'spirit' to the physical components."  It is quite a good explanation, especially for a six year old.  

"Mostly correct."  Iruka allows. "Chakra is spiritual thing- increased by meditation and time.  However, chakra needs to be mixed with physical energy to produce jutsu- which is why we use hand signs."  And with that, he's off into lecture mode.  Some of the students are taking notes, including Shikamaru, but some are not.  While talking, Iruka takes a change to wander around the room- carefully not looking directly at anyone's papers.  Kiba is doodling puppies and brainstorming names; Eiji and Sasuke are discussing how to prank Itachi and Shisui when they picked them up from classes; Naruto is carefully copying exactly what Iruka has on the board and nothing else- as are Bassai, Moa, and Hiroto; Sakura has copied down everything on the board and is writing notes to the relevant parts; and several others are doodling variations of shuriken and kunai.   They start fidgiting after a couple of minutes and Iruka is unsuprised.

"I think it's time for a snack," he says once he's concluded this morning's lecture.  A cheer goes up.  "Outside, everyone."  All the kids seem to rush to stand up and Iruka laughs happily.  "Mizuki-sensei will show you our spot for snack.  But I need to talk to Bassai, Naruto, Moa, and Hiroto before they go out.  Don't wait up for us."  Mizuki gives Iruka an irate look, to which he simply winks at Mizuki, and everyone but the four he mentioned leave.  They all look scared which isn't what Iruka was going for.

"Come up here, kids," he says, motioning them over.  Naruto ends up leading the charge to his desk.  "Can any of you read the first line of this?"  He shows them a book- it's not a hard book, but it's a little beyond a six year old's reading level.  Moa squints at the kanji and rubs her chin.  

"I totally can, believe it!" Naruto declares.  He hasn't even looked at the book.

"Okay, Naruto," Iruka says, "please read it for the other three."  Naruto instantly deflates and no one else offers to.  Which is about what Iruka expected.  "It's okay.  I'll teach you how to read." There's suddenly four excited sets of eyes on him.  "Whenever the rest of the class goes outside, you guys come to me, okay?  No one else has to know, it'll be our little secret."  That definitely has the kids excited.  "And if anyone asks, you're doing something super secret for me.  You got it?"  Four excited nods and Iruka smiles.  This isn't what he signed up for, but like hell he's gonna leave any kid behind.  They're gonna learn how to read.  "Now let's go up to the roof, no one will bother us there.  Did any of you bring snacks?"  The four of them guiltily shift feet and Iruka was expecting that for Naruto, but he can work with it.  "Hey, it's okay.  I have pork buns but we'll have to share them.  Now-"

"Wait, Iruka-sensei," Moa speaks up and Iruka nods for her to continue, "can...can we invite Shibi and Asi-kun too?  They can sorta read but not well.  They've been trying to teach me."  

"Yes, of course.  We'll get you four settled in and I'll grab them from Mizuki."  Iruka doesn't like the idea of leaving the rest of the kids alone with Mizuki, but he knows Mizuki has a chip in his shoulder against Naruto and there's too many chunnin around for him to try anything with the other kids so it'll do for now.  But he still wants Mizuki replaced as soon as possible.  "Let me show you where the roof is." He grabs what was supposed to be his lunch and leads the kids to the roof by the staircase.  The kids crowd around the edge, looking down at the ground with wide grins.  They're kind of cute for the little terrors Iruka knows kids can be.  He does a quick jutsu to coat the roof with a layer of sand- which pulls the kids attention away from how high up they are to Iruka.

"Woah, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto exclaims, digging his hands into the sand.  "You gotta teach me how to do this.  It's a wicked jutsu." 

Iruka gives Naruto a fond smile, "Not until you've got a bit more chakra theory under your belt, but I promise I'll teach you this jutsu and a lot more."  He ruffles Naruto's hair then nearly stabs the kid when he all but tackles Iruka into the hug- his instincts apparently consider any sudden movements towards him attack and he's very, very lucky that he decided against the thigh holster today but his heart is pumping wildly.  

"Hey, Iruka-sensei," Naruto looks up at him with wide, blue eyes, "you okay?"  

"Yes, Naruto," Iruka weakly replies, "just a little startled."  He wraps his arms around Naruto and wonders if there's anyone he can talk to about maybe de-programming the part of his brain that still thinks there's a war going on.  Probably not.  "Now if you let go I can get Asija and Shibire, then we'll start."  Though holding Naruto is kinda nice- even if six year old Naruto isn't the same as 16 year old Naruto.  Naruto seems kinda reluctant to let go, but does so eventually.  Iruka uses that opportunity to shunshin to where Mizuki is and call Asija and Shibire over, then shunshin back up to the roof.  There's four wide eyes watching him and he realizes that's probably the first time they've ever seen the body displacement jutsu.  Oops.  He puts Asija and Shibire down and it met with a lot of loud and sudden questions.

"Woah, woah," Iruka flaps his hands, "calm down everyone.  You can ask one question each, then I'll get to teaching you reading."

"What is that?"  Naruto demands excitedly.  "A super cool jutsu?  Why didn't you say anything when you used it?"

"How much distance can you cover with that?  Could you go to Suna or something?"  Moa asks, equally excited.

Bassai is looking as Asija and Shibire as he asks, "How many people could you carry?  And how do you feel about piggy back rides?"

"That's so cool!" Asiji exclaims.  "When will we learn how to do it?"

"Can we go again?"  Shibire's eyes are wide and pleading- Iruka thinks he might be able to give Naruto a run for his money some day.  

Hiroto looks very thoughtful and is the last to offer his question.  "Why didn't a log appear?  And where's the leaves?"

"In order, then," Iruka says cheerfully.  "That's the Body Flicker Technique.  I could not go to Suna with it, but how far an individual can go is dependent on their chakra reserves.  I can carry one full grown adult- probably three or four of you.  You'll learn it when you're genin probably, but you'll learn a similar technique before you leave the Academy called the Body Replacement Jutsu.  And maybe eventually, but not right now.  You're thinking of the Body Replacement Jutsu.  I did the Body Flicker.  Now, onto teaching you how to read."  There's a couple groans of disappointment but Iruka bends down in the sand and starts drawing kanji and he soon has the kids joining him.  It's slow going, especially when Asija and Moa get into a sand fight which makes all the other kids join in, but Iruka is pretty sure the kids at least know the alphabet and rewards them with half a pork bun each.  It's worrying that none of them brought any snack or lunch and Iruka resolves to talk about it with the Hokage as soon as possible.  

They go back in for lessons, then there's lunch, then Iruka gives in to the kid's pleading and Mizuki, taking them out to the training range where he teaches them how to throw kunai.  Some of the kids- notably Sasuke and Hinata, are already exceptionally good at it.  So Iruka makes it a little harder for them and goes to see how everyone else is doing.  Some are hitting the target, but most aren't.  He can't say he's completely unsurprised by this.  They are six-years old after all.  He gives a couple demonstrations, both left and right handed then tries to correct everyone he sees doing it wrong.  Shikamaru has completely opted out of the exercise and is staring at the clouds.  He drops by the target Sasuke and Eiji have claimed as their own and gives them a couple hints for their prank- Iruka merely smiles as they sputter their excuses and goes on to the next group.  Then, since everyone else seems to be at least aiming towards the targets, he heads over to Shikamaru.  

"You doing okay, Shikamaru?"  Iruka asks, playing up the teacher aspect.

Shikamaru sighs.  "I'm cloud watching."

"Don't you want to throw kunai with everyone else?"

"Troublesome."

"How's this, you get one kid who isn't hitting the target to hit the target and I'll let you cloud watch the rest of the week."   Iruka is not above making deals with six year olds.  

"...Fine."  Shikamaru stands up and plods over to Choji, who is getting frustrated with his inability to hit anything.  By the end the half hour, Choji is hitting the target and Iruka nods at Shikamaru.  He's quite pleased with the progress honestly.  

It's back indoors after that, more chakra theory even as the kids are falling asleep but Iruka doesn't mind.  It's been a full day and it's basically rehashing the morning lesson while answering any questions students might have.  

At the end of the day, Iruka gathers his kids up and goes to wait outside.  He won't get to meet all the parents today, but he's hoping to meet a few of them.  Itachi and Shisui do pick up Sasuke and Eiji and Iruka gets to see their prank in action.  It's kind of brilliant, even if Itachi and Shisui let themselves be pranked- the glittery pink outfits do look nice on them.  Shisui laughs and Itachi looks right at Iruka, who winks back.  Itachi simply rolls his eyes at his former teammate and Shisui chases down Sasuke and Eiji, tucking them under his arms and making them all glittery.  Then Itachi heads right over to Iruka.  

"Hello, Iruka-sensei," Itachi greets him with a wide smile and Iruka braces himself- ah, there it is, Itachi hugs him and suddenly he's wearing something awfully similar to Itachi's and Shisui.  "Shisui, let me introduce you to Iruka, the prankmaster of Konoha."

Shisui is looking at Itachi like he grew another head- and to be fair, so are a lot of other people.  Iruka laughs and shakes his head, "It's been a long time since I was prankmaster.  I merely gave your little brother a little nudge, I did always threaten to make him my apprentice."  The first time around, Iruka had been too terrified of fucking up as a teacher, then there'd been the whole Uchiha massacre so he'd never made good on his promise to Itachi, but maybe this time around he could.  

"Wait, you two know each other?" Shisui asks, narrowing his eyes.  "And you know Sasuke?"  That's directed pointedly at Iruka.

Iruka nods, he's got nothing to hide.  "Itachi and I here go way back.  We served on the same team for a couple of years."  Sasuke and Eiji stop struggling against Shisui and goggle at Iruka.  "And I might've babysat Sasuke a time or two.  Back when he was an itsy-bitsy baby.  I'm sure I still have blackmail photos somewhere..." Iruka doesn't finish his sentence because Sasuke hides underneath Shisui's glittery cloak.   "It's good to see you, Itachi.  And good to meet you, Shisui.  I do have other guardians to meet, but don't be a stranger.  You know where I sleep."  Shisui laughs while Itachi huffs, but Iruka knows Itachi is inwardly amused. Next he meets the Hagiwara parents who give his pinky, sparkly assemble a weird look, but they're civilians so they pass it off as a weird ninja thing.  He makes sure Mizuki meets with all the clan heads that come to pick their kids up, because he doesn't mind civilians thinking he's weird, but for right now the clan heads need to think he's somewhat sane.  After half an hour, there's only six kids left and Iruka knows them all.  And not just in a 'knows their name' sort of way- they're all the kids in his secret reading class.  It makes a horrible amount of sense, Konoha's infrastructure for orphans is kind of overwhelmed, there's always going to be kids who slip through the educational cracks.   Naruto sits apart from the other five and Iruka hopes that isn't a sign of things to come.  He's hoping the reading classes might make them friends at least.  

He swoops over, picking up Naruto first and then the other five.  He waves Mizuki off, telling him to go home because he's got this.

"Hey, Iruka-sensei, why are you wearing that?"  Naruto asks, poking the outfit Itachi had seen fit to give him.

"A friend played a prank on me because I helped his little brother play a prank on him."  Iruka answered honestly, hoisting Naruto up to his back where he happily wrapped his arms around Iruka's neck.  "And it's not uncomfortable to wear.  Sometimes you just have to own your outfit, Naruto.  Now, I'm assuming you all live at the orphanage so I'll walk you there."  Naruto buries his head in Iruka's neck and the other five kids exchange glances. 

"Uhm," Hiroto says, stepping forward as the spokesperson, "he doesn't live with us.  And the orphan matron says we shouldn't talk to him."

Well, that's inconvenient.  "Don't listen to her, Hiroto," Iruka wants to shout but he doesn't- it's not Hiroto's fault people are idiots, "he's a person, just like you and me.  Talk to him all you want- and if the matron asks you, lie.  First rule of being a ninja, kids, your fellow ninja are your greatest allies.  I know you guys aren't officially ninja, but your classmates- all of them, are you allies until they prove otherwise.  Has Naruto done anything that makes him not your friend?"  The five exchange looks, then shake their heads.  "Then don't listen to the matron.  Where do you live, Naruto?" 

"I...uhm...Hokage-jiji gives me money to rent my own apartment," Naruto says quietly.  "I can show you where."  The Hokage has a six year old living alone?  There's a long list of things Iruka needs to talk to Sarutobi about.  

"We'll drop you off last, Naruto.  Is that okay with you?"  Iruka isn't planning on dropping Naruto off at his apartment, Iruka has a perfectly serviceable home after all.  Naruto thankfully nods and buries his head into Iruka's neck again.  "Okay, off we go!"  He takes off at a jaunty pace, singing an old nursery song he remembers.  The kids pick it up soon enough and are singing along as they skip.  Naruto just tightens his hold on Iruka's neck and stays quiet, which worries Iruka but he doesn't say anything.  The other five are safely dropped off back at the orphanage and everyone pretends they don't see the dirty looks thrown Naruto's way.  

When Iruka takes off for his house, Naruto peaks up from his shoulders.  "Where are you taking me, Iruka-sensei?"

"To the Hokage Tower," Iruka answers kindly, having decided against taking Naruto straight to his house.  That'd probably count as kidnapping of some sort and he doesn't need that.  "I need to talk to the Hokage about something but it'll probably be a while until I get in."  Oh, on second thought, perhaps they should get food first.  Eating is a thing children need to do regularly, even if Iruka is still in a mindset of eat when it's safe.  "What do you want to eat?"

"Ramen."  Naruto answers near immediately and Iruka chuckles.  He never wants Naruto to change.  

"How does Ichiraku's sound?"  Iruka asks and Naruto whoops with joy, so Iruka heads that way first.  He settles Naruto down in the seat beside him with a smile and Old Man Ichiraku is there nearly immediately.  

"I'm assuming you want the same as normal, Naruto." Ichiraku says, then focuses on Iruka.  "And who're you?"

"That's Iruka-sensei!" Naruto chirps.  "He's taking me to see Hokage-jiji after we eat."

"That true?"  Ichiraku asks, narrowing his eyes. 

Iruka is glad there's someone looking out for Naruto already and nods.  "Yes, it is.  I'll take the pork ramen."  He ruffles Naruto's hair, who just leans into it like a cat.   Ichiraku considers them both for a second and nods, disappearing into his shop and Iruka breaths an internal sigh of relief then started looking around.  The first time through, Ichiraku Ramen hadn't become a standard haunt for him until after Naruto had graduated, but he supposes that can change.  Ichiraku serves up their ramen and the two of them dig in.  Iruka quickly discovers that despite Naruto's young age, he can still put away more ramen then average.  Iruka internally winces at the final price but pays and picks Naruto back up.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoiler alert: Iruka is not okay.  
> Also I was not expecting this chapter to be so long but Iruka decided he was getting a lot done.


End file.
